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Algae Troubles

Also, the algae you are mentioning may be diatoms..Which is a normal part of the cycling process and takes a while to burn out. can you describe it more? Is it just a thin layer or is it sludgey or hair?
 
its a thick orange sludgy substance thats all over the walls of the tank. scrubbing and getting replacement water sounds a little much so I think I will just get a bat star and a fan.

(sorry for repost so late I was on vacation for a while)
 
Sounds like some type of cyano... You may need more flow and yes, check phosphate levels. You can always add a phosphate reactor.. Two little fishes makes one for 30 something dollars and you just add a small powerhead.
 
Paradox said:
Sounds like some type of cyano... You may need more flow and yes, check phosphate levels. You can always add a phosphate reactor.. Two little fishes makes one for 30 something dollars and you just add a small powerhead.

I didn't get this post in time so I just decided to scrub it and then give a 50% water change like nancy said earlier. When I got back from vacation the algae had only gotten worse so I rushed to get rid of it. The problem was the protein skimmers' collection cup wasn't screwed on right so all the filtered waste was just going right back in to the tank. The algae got into the protein skimmer though so I couldn't scrub all the rest of it away because not all the parts can be reached. I dont know what I can do to get rid of it though. Will it just go away on its own or can something be done? The tank is fine though but I just dont want any more of it coming back :smile:
 
As Greg suggested it might be the level of phosphate or silicates in your water that is 'feeding' the algae.

Will your LFS test a sample if you take it in?

cheers
 
ok, Phosphate levels were fine so it must have been just a natural part of the cycle.

something strange though: this morning I woke up and looked in the corner were the protein skimmer is and found in the top left corner a bundled mass of bright green or yellow string was forming. It almost was like sphagetti and it was a little soft to. I removed it because I didn't know if it would harm the tank but then I realized, could it have been a kelp base forming? thanks for your help.

~Michael
 
Hi, I have 6 saltwater tanks, and I have ran across the..arg.. red algae a couple of times- especially in a fairly new tank. Here's what I do when that happens. After scraping it I do a 25% water change, I add some dwarf blue leg hermit crabs and some snails- the little sand sifting snails love grazing on it- nassarius obsoleta I think they are called. Turbo snails do good on rocks and glass. I then turn the lights off one hour sooner than normal for two weeks or so and I cut my feeding down by half for that time. If I see some layers forming on the substrate I stir it up just a bit. I do water changes each week then for the next two weeks- of course after I have scrubbed the tank. I know it sounds like a little work but in about 2 weeks the cycle will be broken for that algae and it seems to balance itself then. I usually dont have a problem then. The only other thing I could suggest is a UV sterilizer to reduce algae blooms, but you would still have to scrub the tank to get the algae free moving to get zapped once it goes through the UV sterilizer. I've also have cucumbers help with stirring the substrate, they dont eat algae but they do a good job at stirring the sand which helps alot. I've found them to be very hardy and inexpensive. Good luck!
 
yeah I have a small sea hare.

NOOOO, I destroyed its eggs! Next time ill post before I act! I knew they were fertilized to because I saw two other sea hares surrounding that one when it was in the ocean.
 

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